And if you also have any funny experiences or stories while in Spain, I want to know as much as I can about their culture, clothing, food whatever share with me! Thanks!

The WHOLE experience?!!!

That would take ages, as long winded as I am about my favorite year

Hey Nicole, I would love to hear if it's going to make me learn!! I'm studying abroad in Madrid and just would like to hear stories on anything!

I wouldn't even know where to start. it so fun. I have had a couple of friends that studied in Madrid. One of them loved it, and the other was not very pleased with her experience. the latter has lived in afew other country's too, and doesn't seem to have a lot of positive things to say about them, so I am guessing that her negative experience in Madrid may have been due to a lack of flexibility on her part.

How long are you planning to stay? Will you stay in dorms or with a family. I gather from your other post that you will be studying at a spanish University and not a language Institute . Correct?

I'll start with an easy one. Clothes.
Spaniards wear sweaters in three colors: navy, black and gray with a collared white shirt underneath. THey wear lightish colored blue jeans (the women seem to prefer them a little tighter than we would, much to the delight of American men abroad). Rarely do people wear tennis shoes with their jeans - leather shoes. In fact I was stunned by the agility of the spanish women in Salamanca that managed to stride to class in enormous high heels, while I would be teetering along the cobblestone streets in my birkenstocks.


[This message has been edited by Nicole (edited 11-15-2000).]

Nicole wrote:
"Spaniards wear sweaters in three colors: navy, black and gray with a collared white shirt underneath. THey wear lightish colored blue jeans"

Hi, Nicole.

Three colors??? I think that´s too much variety. I would say that Spaniards wear ONLY black sweaters (Lacoste) with a white shirt underneath and Levi's 501 blue jeans with the 29 size...

Nicole, please, don't get angry with me, I was only joking . I don´t think you wanted to say that ALL Spaniards wear ONLY this kind of clothes (or did you?).

Maybe someone who has never been in Spain could take literally your words and think that we live in a huge private school with our uniforms...


Saludos

No, of course not. I was exaggerating. But, I can often spot a Spaniard in the States by the clothing. It takes a practiced eye though.

[This message has been edited by Nicole (edited 11-16-2000).]

okay now this is just hilarious cause look at this picture on my site. www.geocities.com/missmadrid98/meandspanishguys.jpg
When i read this thread i thought this picture would suit it perfectly cause of what the guys were wearing. (you want to hear something funny, see the guy all the way to the left, he is making a hand gesture and a funny face. Well when i developed my pictures and got them back, he was in 5 of them, doing the same thing, making the same face and hand gesture, never knew who the hell he was but he showed up in 5 of the pictures)

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Spain Page!! Check it out! http://www.geocities.com/missmadrid98



[This message has been edited by missmadrid98 (edited 11-16-2000).]

Okay, Food:
You might want to look at the Food, drink and Entertainment section. Under certain restaurants, you will find many a nostalgic entry about mouthwatering Spanish dishes.

From, my own, limited, vegetarian while in Spain experience - Castilla y Leon is pork country. Lots of pork sausages, chops - roast suckling pig (which although I would like to try, because it sounds so delicious, I am not sure I could due to the brutality of it) where they take a baby pig that is still nursing and kill it and roast it.

There is apparently delicious, fresh seafood, especially in certain parts of the country. Wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables.

I liked a lot of the Spanish food that I tried, but I am partial to spicier food. I also don't think of Spain as being as absorbed with food and cooking as france or Italy. There, if you ask someone in the market how to cook something, you could easily engender a lengthy discussion that little by little includes the opinions of all passersby. Spanish food is hearty, good comfort food, with yummy bean dishes and warm bread.

What I thought was the coolest were the tapas though - little plates with small portions of different dishes. Being a "picker," I loved being able to try bits of this and that and go away feeling full after having spent only a couple of dollars.

My favorite though, I think everyone else knows this, since I never shut up about it, is the cafe con leche. I LOOOOOOOVE Spanish cafe con leche. I have taken to drinking cappucinos in the U.S., but it doesn't come close. I love dipping the sugar cubes in the coffee and then dropping them in after the edges of the cube start to melt from the coffe it soaks up. delicioso!

Thanks nicole and everyone! Your input and stories do help. Just so I'm not going in with a major culture shock, so I'm prepared. Any other infos or personal stories on your stay, please share with me. Thanks!!!

This link will bring you to my online story about being a student at La Universidad de Sevilla for a wonderful semester:
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Paradise/4632/spain1976.html

[This message has been edited by Sofia (edited 11-19-2000).]